Editor’s Note

October 12, 2013

After getting engaged last week, my fiancee and I enjoyed a few brief minutes of peace before the questions started rolling in from family, friends and ever-so-distant acquaintances.

Q: How did you propose?

A: I don't really want to talk about it.

Q: What's the ring like?

A: I don't know. Simple, I guess?

Q: Did she cry?

A: No.

Q: When is the big day?

A: We just got engaged, so we haven't really talked about it yet.

Q: Where are you getting married?

A: I just gave her the ring; I really don't know.

Q: Oh my goodness. I'm so excited. I just can't wait.

That last one, of course, is not actually a question. Thankfully, though, we did hear that a lot.

My point is we went from feeling excited to overwhelmed following our engagement. Then, we decided to take our time, focus on some other things and plan the wedding as we feel like it.

We're just not at the point yet where we want to hear: "Make sure you invite your grandma's cousin and his daughter-in-law from Vermont. It would really mean a lot to her." Or, "If you don't invite So-And-So whom I used to work with at the shop, they'll be really upset."

Although we appreciate input from our loved ones, we're going to plan as much of the wedding as possible ourselves. It's ours. We're paying for it. We'll do it our way.

So, we're going to plan at our own pace and do what's best for us. We're from different places. We have large families. The bottom line is - regardless of what we do and how we do it - not everyone is going to be happy.